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The Redbirds and the Cardinals, along with Northern Illinois,
Southern Illinois and Indiana State, were charter members of the
Midwestern Conference before it disbanded in 1972. The two schools
have met 18 times on the hardwood, with Ball State holding a slight
10-8 edge in the series, including a 77-65 victory in the last
meeting in Muncie, Ind., on Feb. 8, 1975. Entering Tuesday night's
action, Illinois State carries an 11-11 record on the season and is
3-8 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Redbirds are also ranked
No. 124 by RPIRatings.com. Ball State is 7-13 on the year, including
a 3-4 mark in the Mid-America Conference, and currently holds a 242
RPI rating.
Head coach Porter Moser and his staff are familiar with the
majority of the Cardinal personnel, since Illinois State and Ball
State orchestrated a preseason scrimmage prior to the start of both
the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. However, BSU is now led by
first-year head coach Ronny Thompson, son of legendary coach John
Thompson.
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"Coach Thompson obviously has a terrific coaching pedigree and
has done a nice job in his first year at Ball State," said Moser.
"Ball State has been a top team in the MAC for many years, and I
think people in the Midwest are familiar with Ball State and its
program."
The BracketBusters series has proven to be a successful venture
for the Redbirds and the Missouri Valley Conference over the
previous four years. ISU boasts a 3-1 record in BracketBusters
series matchups, while also posting a perfect 4-0 mark in the return
games. The entire Valley is 20-13 in BBS games and 25-8 in the
return contests.
"There is definitely a level of pride among the Valley members,
because of the growth this league has endured," Moser said. "We, as
coaches, feel a sense of pride to maintain our league's success in
this event. Hopefully, that will prove to be the case again this
year."
(Text from file received from Todd Kober,
assistant athletics director, media relations,
Illinois
State University)
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